Uniform Civil Code, Agency, Islam, and Muslim Personal Law: Locating Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain in the Contemporary Indian Muslim Women's Rights Movement

Mohammad Kamran Ahsan

 

Abstract: The debate of Uniform Civil Code is fraught with Islamophobic narratives where Indian Muslim women have been presented as the voiceless subjects without agency and power to challenge the patriarchal practices of Triple Talaq. They are presented as the silent victims, waiting for a political wide chested messiah who will redress them from the male tyranny of ‘Muslim menfolk’. The present article debunks the phallocentric notion of voiceless women by presenting an overview of the endeavours and writings of early female writer-activist Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain and compares them with contemporary women’s movements, i.e., Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and Awaz-e-Niswan. Written a century ago, Rokeya’s writings are still relevant in the context of Muslim Personal Law and misogynistic practice of Triple Talaq. This article contextualises the writings of Rokeya in the backdrop of ‘religious morality’ versus ‘constitutional morality’ and a demand of ‘reforms within the community’ without the state intervention.